Cross Cultural Approaches To Creativity & Innovation V3
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Culture, Creativity and Innovation
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- Cross cultural differences in approaches to creativity and
innovation: the challenge for corporate management Presentation for
Mini-Conference at the Vrije Universiteit [VU] Amsterdam, 28th
April 2009 James Ogunleye, PhD FRSA Middlesex University, London,
UK
- Introduction - key terms defined Culture: collective
programming of the mind [i.e. way of thinking, learning, processing
information, perception of others, etc] which distinguishes the
members of one group or category of people from another (Hofstede,
1991, p.5) Corporate Management: The people who administer a
company, create policies, and provide the support necessary to
implement the owners' business objectives. (Harvey, 2004).
Corporate management can also be characterised as an act of getting
things done or accomplishing organisation goals through people. It
is all about the effective harnessing of human and material
resources of the organisation towards achieving common goals.
- Creativity and innovation as conjoined twins? Not much
universal agreement among psychologists and subject investigators
on the definition of creativity and what counts as a demonstration
of creativity, and neither do investigators share a language for
creativity (Welsh, 1973; Ford and Harris, 1992; Parkhurst, 1999;
Joubert, 2001). Creativity: Amar (2007) sees creativity as the
mother of innovation. We could also say creativity fuels
innovation. Innovation: Ogunleye (2001; 2006) and Majoro (1991)
characterise innovation as the bi-product or technological outcome
of creativity. In essence, the terms creativity and innovation are
often used interchangeably. A study by Sternberg and OHara (1999)
concludes that creativity and innovation are essentially perhaps
broadly the same things.
- Overlapping themes of creativity Traditionally, definitions of
creativity are explored under the following largely overlapping
themes (see Ogunleye, 2008): product process personality
environment Therefore, work on creativity and culture or discourses
on cross cultural approaches to creativity are situated in one or
more of the traditional themes of creativity.
- cross cultural approaches to creativity Western conceptions
Creativity as a product Novelty and appropriateness. In other
words, creative products/result or outcome a creative act has to be
original and useful. Indeed, originality is a concept central to
creative product... here, there is an intense focus on innovative
products. Creativity as a process Relates to a persons ability.
Mayer (1989) defines process creativity as the ability to solve
problems that an individual might not have previously learned to
solve. Ability to produce work that is judged by others as novel
and appropriate (Lubart and Sternberg, 1998, p.66). In essence,
process creativity is intertwined with a problem- solving
ability.
- cross cultural approaches to creativity Western conceptions
Creativity as a personality Relates to how a persons cognitive
skills and their emotional experience shape creative outcome. Wason
(1968) defines personality creativity as an aesthetic cognitive and
emotional operation which seeks to find solutions to a problem.
Fisher (1990) relates creativity to human attitudes and abilities
which, together, lead a person to produce creative thought, ideas
or images. on intuition, Intuition is key in personality creativity
it is something that a person has to use to make connections in a
fruitful and productive way. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI-Creativity Index) and Trompenaars (2007) Integrated Type
Indicator (ITI) are profoundly situated in the personality
creativity.
- cross cultural approaches to creativity Creativity as a
condition of the environment in which people live and/or operate
the environment nurtures, enriches, and sensorily stimulates human
creativity (Amabile, 1983; Cheyette, 1977; Taylor, 1971).
social/cultural environmental elements, for example, can create a
context in which creative work is hinder or facilitated; these can
also serve to evaluate products and performances (Lubart and
Sternberg, 1998, p.65). in a business organisation context, a
creative environment will affords opportunities for people
[employees and managers alike] to develop their creative potential/
or will enable people to establish creative interactions with the
organisation.
- cross cultural approaches to creativity Eastern conceptions
Product creativity: there is less emphasis/focus on product Process
creativity: there is strong emphasis/focus on process, which can be
through meditation or in the case of Africans, through spiritual
appeals, chanting or incantations to a deity. Personality
creativity: there is strong emphasis/focus on personality, but not
in exactly the same way as the West. Personality creativity is
associated with/or relates to personal fulfilment (Chu, 1970; Kuo,
1996; Lubart and Sternberg, 1998); morality; spirituality, etc.
Environment creativity: there is less emphasis/focus on the
environment.
- Cross cultural approaches to creativity: the West meets the
East? There appears to be a strong convergence in cross cultural
constructs of creativity when creativity is defined as a process.
In other words, both the West and the East perspectives on
creativity place a strong emphasis on process. Ironically, the
similarity in the West and the East perspectives on creativity ends
almost as soon as it begun! The West and the East conceptions or
what is also known as descriptors of creative process differed
quite significantly.
- Western conceptions of creative process Descriptors Preparation
Incubation Illumination Verification
- Creative process: the Google Chrome story To help protect y our
priv acy , PowerPoint prev ented this external picture from being
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- Creative process: the Google Chrome story
- Creative process: the Google Chrome story
- Creative process: the Google Chrome story
- The East conceptions of creative Process East preparation
involves prayer/ meditation for inspiration alignment of inner
self/being with the spirit of the deity insights; rather
self-focused than subject-focused personal realisation; social
communication of achievement
- African conceptions of creativity Swahili word for creativity
is Kuumba product, process, personality, and environment creativity
are all emphasised in the African context. Like the East, there is
strong emphasis/focus on process and personality
- African conceptions of creativity Product/outcome of creativity
101. Mask Woven Grass Baskets (Tutsi Rwanda, mid part 20th
century); Brown Dense Wood with Patina (Lwena/Luvale,
Zambia/Angola, mid 20th century); and a Yoruba Sculpture (Western
Nigerian, by George Bamidele)
- Process/personality creativity: learning by observation
- African creative personalities Personality creativity African
creative writers Chinua Achebe (top right) and Nobel Laureate Wole
Soyinka have both been acknowledged as the master craftsmen for
creativity and inventiveness for using various creative strategies
and devices, to positively change the face of the English language
(Ajani, 2005).
- Summary The West and the East/Africa conceptions of creative
process East/(and Africa to a West Descriptors degree) Preliminary
preparation analysis of the involves prayer/ Preparation problem
meditation for active inspiration unconscious Incubation alignment
of inner work self/being with the a sudden burst spirit of the
deity of insight/ insights; rather imagination/ Illumination
self-focused than idea/solution to subject-focused the problem
personal Evaluation of realisation; social Verification
idea/solution; communication of development achievement
- Challenges for corporate management How creativity is
understood in different culture as represented by employees The
need to understand the cultural characteristics and behaviours of
innovative and creative people in the organisation (see Roffe,
1999).
- A three-fold challenge for corporate management Recognising
cultural differences Championing in creativity and creativity
innovation and and innovation attune to those differences
Encouraging creativity and innovation; integrate cross cultural
differences via Trompenaars (2007) Trompenaars Integrated Type
Indicator [ITI] tool
- Concluding remarks Peng Guohui, Principal of Jindao Middle
School, Guangzhou, China
- End Note Creativity is not in the person, or in the culture,
but in the interaction between the two (Lubart and Sternberg, 1998,
p.69). Thank You